Metal-fueled madness, suspenseful car chases and ridiculous action – Why MAD MAX is probably one of the best films this year

Ah, Mad Max, you lovely, sick twisted parody of humanity….how I love you so for all the over the top madness that is characteristic of your title and legacy. In an age where most remakes/reboots fall flat on their gluttonous faces, you manage to stay more than loyal to the fans, with genius George Miller (no relation of Frank Miller) delivering a fantastic visual masterpiece, combining great performances with fine CGI to produce the beast that is Fury Road.

WARNING: SPOILERS APPROACHING IN DISTANCE

Why is the water always gone ?

The film begins, as most of you who are fans of the series would expect, with Ma getting into trouble. He’s caught pants down(quite literally) taking a piss, when a convoy of the neighboring War Boys ambushes him, leading to a short chase after which they easily dislodge his beloved car, shortly after taking him prisoner in which a short chase ensues, delivering exposition for the people who are strangers to the franchise. While most would complain about this, I have no real problem due to the visceral way in which it is told, holding nothing back while remaining both visually stunning and creative. They could have gone the easier, less risky way and done this via flashback, but instead they show him as any person in isolation would be after experiencing a traumatic event such as this, reliving horrible images from his past, with a desire to simply be left alone. What makes the beginning of the story impressive is that Max is not shown as some cheesy indestructible 80s hero, but as a vagrant anti-hero who has declined society to live a nomadic lifestyle, moving from one settlement to another.

This is stuff of my apocalypse dreams

Besides Max, there are several other fascinating and interesting characters, all as eccentric and interesting as Max and boy, oh boy do they get a good deal of screen time. The action sequences are Lengthy and creative, while still maintaining the flow of the story. What I loved about the film was it’s short use of CGI to animate the fights and explosions. CGI is present, but it’s use is limited to touch ups and additional effects. A great part of the action that you do observe is performed using real cars, real explosions and unbelievable stunts….and yes, the Doof Wagon is real.

Another thing that a lot of people brought up was the villain. While I found the villain quite intriguing, he was far from memorable, not that I’m saying he was terrible as such, he was the typical tyrannical, overlord, power-hungry warboss that you would expect from a movie centering around the apocalypse, but we barely spend any time with him, let alone learn something of his past, so he did not embed himself much into my view of the film. Contradicting what I said, that was probably the charm of the film, not wasting time with clunky exposition people could not give two figs about (*cough* Jupiter Ascending *cough*). In fact, this is one of the films in which minimum dialogue adds to the thrilling atmosphere of the film, and whilst ol’ Tom Hardy (al la THE DARK KNIGHT RISES) is forgettable, he does add a few unique quirks and mannerisms memorable to the character. Charlize Theron’s character Furiosa was a nice swing away from your usual female protagonist, making her more of an anti-hero on a quest for redemption. Nicholas Hoult was another side character whose entirety can be summed up in ‘diamond in the rough’, and a who’s who of runner ups from America’s Next Top Model .The basic plot of the movie besides that is centered on a last ditch salvation mission, which has high stakes on both sides. An enjoyable watch for anyone who adores action cinema, and a model one at that.

However, all of us who saw the movie can unanimously agree that by far the most memorable character was the DOOF WARRIOR. It was mainly because you can’t have an apocalyptic war party without some good tracks.

I would recommend this film to be watched by everyone this year, if not in the theater, seeing as how you may have missed the premier due to your meaningless existence, I would suggest this as a brilliant watch for the weekend when it does release on Blu-Ray. Well, until then take care, drink lots of water, and stock up for the apocalypse.